Hi guys sorry for the delay. I am in Japan currently on exchange program and been either studying my butt off or travel while I can before my 4 month time limit runs out XD. Hope you guys like the latest chapter. there are some changes I have made in the chapters before. However, they are minor changes. Such as:

*the name of the feline race from now on will be known as Ailuran. Finally found the official name for were-cats, like werewolves who are known as the lycanthropes or i.e lycan

overall that is all I have to say. Hope you all like the latest chapter.

Disclaimer: Don't own Code Geass

Chapter 3: Truce

The first time Luluko ever went out onto the battle field she was a child, unversed yet in politics. The first thing that interested her in the court was a representative from the Nimravidae, a group not allied with her mother, the Queen. He was a saber tooth boy only a few years older than her, twelve to her eight. Luluko was too young to know that her playmate made her mother very nervous, or that he was in the Den for any reason different from the other children's. Too young to know that he represented an empire older and stronger than her own, without whose support her people would never be able to keep their heads above water when fighting the lycans.

She was just a child, with no responsibilities, no understanding of politics, war or pain. So she remembered the saber tooth very fondly, as her last memory of childhood. One of her tutors stepped out to speak with her mother in the hallway. "Milady Marianne, have you seen Xingke?" Luluko looked up, hearing the name of her friend despite the tutor's attempt at discretion. "I'm worried that he's gone out to the field… to look for his father."

She was too young to understand death, but she understood that her friend was upset and so she had to find him. She stood to sneak out before her mother returned. Luluko had known Li all eight years of her life, since he was three years old and she was newly born. He would listen to Luluko more than anyone else. The saber tooth tried to stop Luluko from leaving, but he had no authority over her and she refused to listen to reason.

Her first breath of death hit her as she flew over the field. Yes, she knew of the war, but she had never seen the carnage up close, smelled the blood before… and in the middle of it all, her friend Li, hunched protectively over his father's body, crying.

She landed at his side.

She hardly had a chance to speak before the lycan appeared. Li pushed Luluko behind him; they scuffled, and she saw the fangs slice into her friend's skin.

Someone else attacked Luluko from behind, but when she fought back, she was struggling with something as harmless as a wool blanket. She realized suddenly that she was dreaming a scene she relived in her mind almost every night. She had been knocked out; Li had saved her life. His brush with death had changed him, forcing him to grow up faster. After that day he had made a point of training. He had joined the Ailurans soldier training program when he was thirteen and the Royal guards when he was fifteen, and he had been the captain of that group for three years now.

Despite knowing she was asleep, she could not wake. Lucid dreams had been a curse of hers for years.

Luluko walked the battlegrounds in her mind, through the woods and fields that she had been drawn to ever since Li's father died. Pain, bloodshed, war. They had stained her that day.

She walked from the dream of Xingke to one of her pair bond (mate), the man who had been promised as her protector when they were both barely more than infants. Rai had frightened Luluko a little when she was a girl; he had seemed so cold and strong. The blood she saw in her dreams, he saw every day as a soldier. Yet Luluko learned to understand him, and then she learned to love him — just in time to lose him, like she had lost so many others.

She pushed the phantom away and found herself face to face with the emerald eyes of Suzaku Kururugi, the creature whose kind was responsible for every loss her people suffered, every tear she held inside. Her breath halted in her lungs; her blood turned to ice. She felt her throat constrict as she tried to scream —

"Luluko, are you all right?"

She opened her eyes and pain shot from her side she had jerked to fast from her nightmare and opened her wound in the process. She was bleeding heavily again. A wound of a lycans claw is one of the deadliest and hardest wounds to heal from. One of the longest to heal from. And with her jerky movements she just happened to make things worse.

Luluko looked around to find Li searching the room for whatever had frightened her. His thick black hair had been hastily pulled back from his face as if he had been roused from sleep. He was not supposed to be on duty until this afternoon, but Luluko was grateful he had been the one to hear her shout.

"Yes," She said, but the trembling in her voice belied her answer.

"Dream?" he asked. Li was the only one to whom she confided her nightmares.

Luluko nodded.

"I think I just re opened my wound." She said, while Li came towards her bed to examine the damage she has done.

"Yes it seems you have. We need to get this re-stitched and fast before you lose any more blood." Li grabbed the closest cloth he could find and applied it to her wound. He then left to fetch the royal doctor.

The pain was too much then she can bear. She was happy once the doctor was done with her.

"Princess, you should try to not make sudden movements and stay in bed. You have prolonged the healing process and have caused further damage to your wound. Not all the poison has left your system, my lady. You won't be able to walk for a couple of days and at nights you are likely to experience some more fever attacks."

Luluko sighed. She was not surprised that is what she tells her own patients. As she turned she saw Xingke with an angry expression on his face.

It's not your fault Li. Don't beat yourself up about it.

If I just acted in time. I could have prevented him from nicking your side.

Luluko gave up trying to argue with the stubborn man. She was too tired to care.

She looked out her window. Morning was here, and then it just dawned on her. If Li was there as well, then there was something important to be done.

The doctor had left them. And then it was quiet in the room.

Xingke cleared his throat. "Lu I know that the doctor said that you're supposed to be bed ridden. However, your mother wants you to meet her downstairs. I think you should tell your mother how serious your wound is."

"No." Luluko's response came without even a hint of hesitation. When she had returned from the field two days ago, injured. Xingke had known that she did not wanted to worry her mother with her grievous wound. Thus, they curved the truth a bit when they reported the news to her mother.

Thus, when she needed to move around Xingke would carry her where she needs to go. But, once in public she would put on a brave face and walk on her own.

Xingke saw he could not change her mind.

"Fine. I shall call a maid to help you get dressed." He finished his reply with a sigh and headed to find a maid.

Not too soon after he left a maid came in to help her change quickly. Her mother did not summon her for meaningless trifles. She stepped slowly outside her room just outside the door to find the Felidae's Den swarming with Ailuran soldiers. In addition, to Xingke, there were five other guards next to her door alone. Out on the field, she understood this kind of caution. Inside the Den, it was unheard of.

"My mother isn't hurt?" Luluko asked with alarm, her mind latching on to the worst possible reason for this concern.

"She's safe," Xingke answered, though he didn't sound as if he was completely certain. "The rest of the clowder is with her."

Of course. "Then why the sudden jump in security?" And, before he could answer, "And who in the world is guarding the outside?"

"There are about two dozen soldiers ringing the courtyard, and another few dozen in the surrounding land," one of the other guards assured Luluko.

"They're good fighters. As for your other question," Xingke answered, "we seem to have a visitor, which is why your mother requested your presence in the first place."

Xingke gathered Luluko up in his arms and began walking through the Den. Luluko took the opportunity to take a better look around the Den and at all the other guards faces.

She had become used to having one or two guards at her sides, occasionally more if she was farther from the Den on one of the fields. Having this many was unnerving, even though the Royal guards were trained to work smoothly. They kept out of her way and out of each other's, but the press of their bodies in the hall was oppressive in itself. What kind of visitor required so many members of the royal guard to be in the loftiest halls of the Fildae's Den?

No one so much as got inside unnoticed. To get all the way to her chamber would be impossible.

Her alarm jumped again when she realized that the guards who had preceded her had changed shape to jump to the ground floor. As a deterrent to those who did not have the grace of jump as the Ailurans, like the lycans and other enemies, there were no stairs from the ground to the first floor. Aside from criminals and traitors, even the lowliest Felis catus commoner was met in the second-floor reception hall.

The reason behind this is that the Lycanthropes and the Ailuranthropes (were cats) are both known for their speed on the ground; however, the difference is that the Lycans are more known for their raw physical strength and the Ailurans are known for their agility both on the ground and air. Thus, even if by some chance that the Lycans were to break into Den, it would be hard for them to make it up to the second floor even in their second form.

Luluko was pulled out from her thoughts when Xingke landed gracefully on the first floor without much effort and without jarring her wound at all. He changed back from his second form and they continued and this time she can tell that he would not put her down until the last possible second. Which she was grateful for.

"Who is this visitor?" Luluko inquired softly. "Suzaku Kururugi himself?"

Xingke did not joke back with her. Luluko's mother was standing with her back to them as they entered the enclosed courtyard.

Before reaching all the way Xingke placed Luluko on her feet. Luluko needed to act as if her wound was not as extensive as it actually was.

As her feet touched the ground, her world started turn. She leaned into Xingke's, he was still holding on to her not wanting to let her go. He did not even wanted her downstairs. After a few second Luluko got her bearings and felt more confident that she can stand on her own. She took a few steps forwards surprised that she did not fall flat on her face.

Xingke had let her go reluctantly and they both now faced forwards heading towards Marianne.

As Luluko approached her mother she saw the reason why she was summoned. The visitor was seated cross-legged on the ground nearby, with her eyes closed, her tail in her lap, and her ears on top of her head pointed down as if in a submissive pose taking a nap. Four of the Ailurans guards surrounded the visitor, showing just how afraid the Ailurans were to have the visitor near their queen.

Even from across the courtyard Luluko could recognize the lycan's tail and ears, black hair, and fair skin. The visitor was a female lycan. As Luluko closer she saw the female lycans silky black dress with the white emblem sewn onto the low neckline between her breasts. On her left hand she wore an onyx signet ring.

Either the female lycan heard their quiet approach, or she sensed them some other way, for the female lycan, ears twitched and opened her eyes just then. Suddenly Luluko's tranquil, violet gaze was met directly by the visitor's harmonic nature one, the color reminiscent of pure polished emeralds. Luluko looked away quickly, a shudder twisting its way up her spine.

"She's here in peace," Luluko's mother assured her immediately, but Luluko could hear the "or so she said" in her voice even though she didn't speak it aloud.

"Kaguya, may I introduce my heir and daughter, Luluko vi Britannia? Luluko, this is Kaguya Kururugi, younger cousin to Suzaku."

Luluko's skin chilled just hearing the name, but she answered the introduction politely.

What is this creature doing here? Luluko wondered to herself.

She was willing to heal Seiryuu Kururugi on the field, but he had been severely wounded and dying. Seeing Kaguya, alive and well and dangerous, Luluko felt less charitable.

No doubt the guards had searched Kaguya and taken away what weapons they could — probably none, if this ruse was meant to gain their trust. But everyone knew you couldn't disarm a Kururugi unless you took its life. Their emerald eyes alone were a weapon, not to mention their poison in their claws, which could kill if they struck in full lycan form, and which would kill more slowly but more painfully if they did so in a less pure form.

Kaguya Kururugi spoke first, for which Luluko was grateful. If she had opened her mouth, Luluko probably could have caused a war with what she had said, if it had not been too late already.

"We want peace," Kaguya said softly, not rising. In case she tried to stand, the guards were prepared to kill her instantly.

"We're tired of the fighting, and the killing." Someone grumbled; Luluko thought it might be Xingke. Luluko's mother directed a frosty glare at someone behind her.

Kaguya also looked up at whoever had made the sound, and her voice rose with anger as she argued, "I have lost my father to this war. Two uncles. Three brothers. A few years ago, I lost a sister and a niece at the same time when some ailuran soldier put a knife into her belly and killed both her and the child she was carrying. My aunt is a good woman, but she is only the wife of our former Alpha King and the people will not follow someone who is only Kururugi by name. They need their Alpha king. And Suzaku is the only one who meets the standards of our people. Seiryuu is to gentle to be king." Her voice quieted again.

"Excuse me, if we don't completely trust you, Kaguya," Marianne said simply. "But your kind has not been known to uphold its word in the past."

Kaguya lowered her head, and Luluko could tell she was trying to speak around her anger. "Seiryuu Kururugi almost died two nights ago," she answered quietly. She looked at Luluko as she said the words.

Luluko looked away. Just from the stare Luluko could guess that Kaguya knew the truth. But, then she looked back again. Refusing to be ashamed at what she had done.

"He is only fourteen, and he nearly died. I came here, without weapons, with the hope that someone might listen. Suzaku wanted to come himself, but my aunt argued that you would sooner put a knife in his back than listen to anything he had to say. And do you know what he replied? He said, 'Let them. If they do, someone might finally be satisfied that they've won this war, and then maybe it will end.' "

Luluko barely managed to hold her tongue in response to that claim. Suzaku Kururugi was what the lycans called a Beta, the prince first in line to the throne. Now that his father was dead, he was all but king, Alpha. It was hard for Luluko to imagine the leader of the lycans saying anything remotely tolerable, much less blatantly self-sacrificing.

Anyone who had spent enough time in the court had heard about the exploits of Suzaku Kururugi. In battle, it was said, he fought with single-minded fury, and a speed and raw strength no Ailuran could match. He could catch the eye of his opponent, and that warrior would drag his knife across his own throat in a killing blow. He fought beside his people in battle and had never been wounded. Whispered rumor attributed his power to black magic and demons.

"And what exactly is… Suzaku… proposing?" Marianne asked, hesitating for a fraction of a second before she spoke the name, as if worried the word alone would soil the Fildae's Den.

"A truce," Kaguya answered instantly. "Suzaku, Seiryuu, their mother and I would like to meet with you, your heir, and whatever others you think necessary."

"And just where is this meeting to take place?" Marianne asked skeptically.

"Before the Avians Court," Kaguya answered softly. She took a breath and then explained, "The lycans have been fighting so long, their only reason for continuing now is to avenge the loss of so many of their kin to ailuran fighters. They don't trust the Ailurans, and I think it would take quite a show of good faith from your people to convince ours that the Queen of the Ailuran is as honest in her desire to stop the fighting as their Alpha Queen and Beta are."

Luluko bit her tongue to keep from demanding just what kind of "show of good faith" Kaguya was suggesting. When she spoke, Marianne said much the same. "I take it Suzaku sent you as a show of faith from your side," her mother said. "What is he asking in return?"

Kaguya shook her head.

"Only that you agree to meet with us on peaceful lands before the Avian Court. We would like to appeal to the Queen for support of the peace talks, and whatever is involved in those."

Her mother looked at Luluko. "Luluko?"

Luluko started to object instantly… but then she remembered Seiryuu Kururugi's blood on her hands.

She remembered the battlefields, the reek and the wail of war. She remembered her own pair bond, Rai, who had once been promised as her husband. And her own brother, who had been no older than then her he had taken with him into death.

So Luluko's words when she answered her mother were soft, but not without emotion. "I do not trust them, Mother, but if there is any chance that they might be honest, that Suzaku Kururugi might want peace…" She took a breath, because the very thought that Suzaku would ever waste a breath for peace was unnerving.

"Then I believe we should take it." More quietly, she added, "You know that I would do anything within my power to stop this war."

Her mother nodded. "Xingke, your thoughts?"

The leader of the royal guards paused, looking at Kaguya. "I don't like it, but the Avian lands are neutral territory. Even a wolf would be mad to try to ambush us there; the Queen would tear the lycans apart."

"Very well, then." Marianne gestured for Kaguya to stand and held up a hand to silence the guards' protests.

"Kaguya, please relay the message to your… prince that we would be willing to meet him."

"Thank you, Marianne," Kaguya said warmly, informally enough that Luluko saw a guard wince.

Kaguya looked directly at Luluko as she added, "Suzaku asked me to convey our willingness to meet any day, any time, as soon as is possible. Please speak a date, and I will tell my cousin."

Again, Luluko's mother conferred briefly with Xingke, and then she answered, "In two days, on the first showing of the moon. It will take that long for us to organize our people."

If the lycan's left the instant Kaguya returned to the palace and were willing to ride their horses or run themselves in their second form to exhaustion, their party would probably make the deadline. The lycans would not have time to plan a sneak attack before the meeting.

Kaguya curtsied, her face showing no annoyance at the rush her mother was pressing her people with. "Thank you, Marianne, Luluko. My best wishes go with you both until then."

Hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Stay tuned for the next shall be out sooner then you may expect. Please review and let me know how you all thought of the latest chapter.

till next time XD